A man who challenged police reversing the wrong way up a one-way street - to visit a chippie - was thrown in a cell and threatened with trumped-up charges.

Andrew Carter, 44, was told 'F*** off, this is police business' when he protested about the officers breaking traffic laws.

When he photographed the police van outside a Bristol fish and chip shop, PC Aqil Farooq told him he was under arrest for assault, resisting arrest and being drunk and disorderly.

Mr Carter, a self-employed plumber who lives nearby, was handcuffed and bundled into the back of the van then locked in a police cell for five hours.

He was also forced to give a sample of his DNA and had his fingerpints taken. After his release he spent a week on bail before he was he told he would not be charged.

Mr Carter said last night that he was off work for a week with a prescription for valium. 'My blood pressure was so high I thought I was going to have a heart attack,' he added.

Now his business is struggling to survive and he has been left with a fear of the police.

Describing his 'frightening' ordeal, Mr Carter said: 'The officer reversed from the main road through the no entry signs, parked up and went into the fish and chip shop with his colleague on what he says was legitimate police business.

'I was nearly knocked down once so when the police van did it I said, ''Hey mate, no entry'' but he just shouted out the window, ''F**k off, this is police business''.

'When I took a photo of them he came running out, battered the camera from my hand on to the floor and arrested me for three crimes, none of which I'd committed.'

PC Farooq and a woman officer claimed they needed to visit the takeaway shop to view CCTV footage.

The officer faced a disciplinary inquiry and was made to apologise in person to Mr Carter but still held on to his job.

Avon and Somerset deputy chief constable Rob Beckley also wrote to Mr Carter, apologising for the officer's 'totally unacceptable' behaviour.

Mr Carter said he was pleased with the apology but was still pursuing a compensation claim

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